Page 331 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

310 COAST OF NUBIA. [CH.

about nine hundred feet, and it is visible at a
distance of eight leagues.
A coral belt, about a quarter of a mile in
width, and nearly dry, rising almost perpen­

dicularly from a great depth, encircles the
whole island, so that there is no anchorage;
and the Palinurus, during her stay, was se-
sured to a grapnel, fastened in one of the
hollows of the rocks. Of course, while thus
situated, we were entirely at the mercy of the
winds, for if they had shifted suddenly, we
had no means of escaping.
We visited with lights a singular excava­

tion on the eastern side of the island. After
descending through numerous windings over
a broad slippery rock, we arrived at some
water, which, although of a very indifferent
quality, is drank by the Arabs, who are left
here to catch turtle. On the south-east side,
a few yards from the beach, we discovered
numerous and extensive excavations, which
have apparently been made at a very early
period; they occupy a large extent of ground,

and are continued upwards, a third of the
hill’s ascent, on which fragments of pottery
and glass lie strewn about. Many of them are